Kent store may help addicts recover

A man got approval from the Kent Planning Commission Tuesday to open an upcycling business on South Water Street, in hopes of helping men get free of addiction.

Carl Sartoris plans to open a store at 1002 S. Water St. in Kent, across from Kent Social Services. The retail shop, previously a gun store, once was the garage for a house at 1010 S. Water St.

His business, called "Life Upcycled," would sell custom pieces crafted at his kitchen and bath remodeling company in Stow called Steel Dog Studio. A "large portion" of the proceeds from the store would go to fund a sober-living house, called Steel Dog Recovery, that would house recovering addicts and alcoholics just released from rehab.

"Once they’re out of rehab, that’s when the hard part is," said Sartoris, who said he is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.

He said he hopes to teach the residents how to weld and use their hands to make the pieces that will be sold at the store.

"It will be a band of brothers, and like-minded people coming together," he said.

The store will be staffed by his sons, who are Kent State University students. He said he expects the store to have limited hours, and by appointment.